Packaging with improved removing element

ABSTRACT

A packaging for a liquid substance, in particular a cosmetics product such as nail varnish, includes a container which is accessible via a neck, a closure which interacts with the neck of the container by element of a screw connection, as well as a brush which is attached to the closure and which extends into the container when the closure is screwed on, which brush is attached to the closure in such a manner that it can be displaced. The brush by element of a screw connection interacts with the closure.

The invention relates to a packaging for a substance in a liquid,particulate or pasty state, for example a cosmetics product such as nailvarnish, comprising a container which is accessible via a neck, aclosure which interacts with the neck of the container by means of ascrew connection, as well as a removing element attached to the closure,such as a brush, pipette or scoop, which removing element extends intothe container when the closure is screwed onto the neck and interactswith the closure by means of a screw connection.

Such a packaging in the form of a nail varnish bottle is known from U.S.Pat. No. 3,157,905. The closure in the form of a cap can be screwed ontothe neck of the bottle by means of a threaded connection. The removingelement, which is designed as a brush, has a handle with an externalscrew thread, which is in turn screwed into a hole in the cap which isprovided with respective internal screw thread. These threadedconnections have identical pitch angles and identical directions, sothat when the cap is unscrewed and the brush is prevented from turning,the latter remains stationary with respect to the bottle. As a result,the brush can even remove the last remaining contents from the bottle.

The brush is retained by means of a separate disk which is provided onthe inside of the bottle. Such a design is complicated to produce and isalso expensive. In addition, the internal disk forms an obstruction inthe interior of the bottle, which renders insertion of the brush moredifficult. The fact that the threaded connection between the brush andthe cap has dimensions which are so small, in particular has such asmall diameter that failures may easily occur, is a further drawback.The functioning of such a threaded connection with a small diameterleaves something to be desired, which adversely affects the ease of use.

A further packaging in the form of a nail varnish bottle is known fromU.S. Pat. No. 5,116,154. With this known nail varnish bottle, the handleof the brush is constantly kept pressed against the bottom of the bottleby means of a spring, which is provided in the cap of the nail varnishbottle. When the cap of the bottle is unscrewed, the brush remainspressed against the bottom. This makes it possible to remove even thelast remaining drops of nail varnish from the bottle with the brush.After all, the handle is pushed so far outwards with respect to the capthat the brush can still touch the bottom, even if the cap is removedcompletely from the bottle. In said state, the nail varnish can beremoved almost completely by scraping the bottom of the bottle using thebrush.

This results in an improvement with respect to the nail varnish bottleswhich have a brush which is fixedly connected to the cap, whose brushcan only reach the vicinity of the bottom if the cap is fully screwedonto the bottle. However, as soon as the cap is unscrewed from thebottle, the distance of the brush to the bottom increases. When the capis completely unscrewed, the brush can only be inserted into the bottleup to a relatively large distance from the bottom in order to remove thenail varnish from the bottle. This inevitably means that a relativelylarge amount of remaining nail varnish can then not be reached and hasto be disposed of together with the bottle.

Although, in this connection, the above-described nail varnish bottlewith a sprung brush already represents an improvement, it still hasdrawbacks attached to it. A first drawback is the limited ease of use ofa cap with sprung brush. During application of the nail varnish, thebrush can slide back, against the spring force of the spring. This couldbe overcome by using a relatively strong spring, but this has thedrawback that the pushing back of the brush when screwing the cap backonto the bottle is then rendered difficult. In addition, the brush isrelatively unstable due to the sprung suspension.

Furthermore, a spring mechanism has the drawback of a relatively highcost price, which is due to the production, material and assembly costs.A further drawback could be that the brush is kept pressed against thebottom on account of the pressing action in such a manner that the shapeof the spring becomes bent. Over time, said bent shape of the brush willbecome permanent and will also persist when the cap with the brush hasbeen unscrewed from the container. However, such a bent brush results indrawbacks during the application of the nail varnish.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a packaging, inparticular a nail varnish bottle, which ensures, on the one hand, thatvirtually the entire substance contents, such as nail varnish, can beused, while the brush retains its normal shape in connection with theapplication of the nail varnish. It is a further object to provide apackaging which can be produced relatively inexpensively and whichnevertheless offers a high degree of ease of use and is not susceptibleto failures. These objects are achieved by the fact that the screwconnection between the removing element and the closure and the screwconnection between the closure and the neck have a substantially similardiameter, or that the screw connection between the removing element andthe closure has a diameter which is larger than the screw connectionbetween the closure and the neck.

Such a ratio between the threaded connections offers various advantages.A set of screw connections of approximately similar diameter, inparticular an identical set of screw connections, offers the advantagethat production thereof is relatively inexpensive. In addition, thestructure can be assembled in a relatively simple manner. In addition,the functioning of identical screw threads is much more reliable thanwith a relatively small threaded connection. After all, a relativelysmall threaded connection results in failures, such as jamming anddefects, more quickly as the surfaces thereof which interact with oneanother are small and thus exposed to high material stresses.

In addition, the packaging according to the invention no longer has aspring to keep the brush pushed outwards with respect to the closure. Asa result, the problem that the brush is kept pressed against the bottomin a bent position when the closure has been fitted does not occur.Instead, a screw connection is provided between the brush and the cap,in such a manner that displacement with respect to one another ispossible by turning the brush and cap with respect to one another. Whenthe cap has been placed on the container, but not yet been screwed ontothe container, the brush reaches as far as the bottom. When the cap issubsequently screwed onto the container, the brush moves into the cap.As the cap moves in the direction towards the bottom when it is beingscrewed on, the position of the brush with respect to the bottom remainsconstant. This means that, when the closure is being screwed on, whichaction causes a movement in the direction towards the bottom of thecontainer, the brush is no longer pushed against the bottom, but ratherremains standing on it in a more or less constant position.

Such an effect can be achieved in particular if the screw connectionbetween the closure and the neck and the screw connection between theclosure and the brush have similar properties, such as similar diametersand similar lead angle or pitch. Screw connections having a similar leadangle or pitch are understood to mean screw connections which haveequally large displacements in the longitudinal direction when the nutand the screw are turned one complete revolution with respect to oneanother. With the above-described embodiment of the packaging, arevolution of the closure with respect to the container and with respectto the brush results in identical displacements, so that the insertedbrush can be kept at a constant position with respect to the bottom,also when screwing the closure further onto the container. The positionof the brush is preferably chosen such that it just or almost touchesthe bottom.

In a preferred embodiment, the closure has an internal screw thread andthe brush has a handle which comprises bristles at one end and has a nutat the other end which interacts with said internal screw thread of theclosure. In particular, the closure may have an internal screw threadwhich interacts both with the neck and with the nut.

In order to properly seal the packaging according to the invention, thenut and the neck may be provided with sealing means. Retaining means maybe provided in order to prevent rotation of the nut and neck withrespect to one another and to make the desired rotation of the closureand brush with respect to one another possible. These retaining meansmay have mating shapes which can be brought into engagement with oneanother by placing the closure on the neck. By way of example, retainingmeans are mentioned which comprise at least one recess or projection ofthe nut, as well as a projection or recess on the container.

In an alternative embodiment, the retaining means may also be based onfriction, for example as provided by a friction element which may beprovided either on the neck or on the nut of the brush.

In a particularly efficient embodiment, the sealing means may alsocomprise a sealing element which is attached to the neck, which sealingelement comprises the projection or the recess. In this connection, thenut and the sealing element may comprise sealing surfaces which can bemade to interact with one another.

The invention will be described in more detail below with reference toan exemplary embodiment illustrated in the figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a first variant of the packaging according to theinvention.

FIG. 2 shows a second variant.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view in perspective of the variant from FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the brush container turned upsidedown.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the end cover turned upside down.

The figure shows a part of a packaging according to the invention, whichrepresents a nail varnish bottle provided with a container 1. The topside of the container 1 has a neck 2, which is provided with an externalscrew thread 3. Furthermore, the closure 4 has been screwed onto thecontainer 1, which closure comprises a cap 16 which has an internalscrew thread 5.

The cap 16 comprises a nut section 6, having an external screw thread 7which is in engagement with the internal screw thread 5 of the cap 16. Ahandle 8 is attached to the nut section 6, which handle 8 extends intothe container 1. On the underside of the handle 8, the brush 9 isprovided. In the figure, the brush 9 is just above or just on the bottom17 of the container 1.

On the top side of the neck 2 of the container 1, a sealing ring 10 isprovided which has a collar 11 which extends into the neck 2. Thesealing ring 10 has a top surface 12, on which the bottom surface 13 ofthe nut section 6 rests. In addition, the sealing ring 10 is providedwith lugs 14, which protrude upwards with respect to the top surface 12.On the bottom surface 13, the nut section is provided with recesses 15which are formed and positioned in accordance with the lugs 14.

When placing the closure 4 on the container 1, it has to be ensured thatthe nut section 6 is unscrewed as far as near the bottom end of the cap16. In this position, the handle 8 with the brush 9 protrudes as far aspossible with respect to said cap 16. Subsequently, the bottom surface13 of the nut section can be placed on the top surface 12 of the sealingring 10, with the lugs 14 and recesses 15 interacting with one another.The nut section 6 is then locked against rotation. At the subsequentrotation of the cap 16, the latter moves downwards with respect to thenut section 6, with the internal screw thread 5 of the cap 16 cominginto engagement with external screw thread 3 of the neck 2. The cap 16can be tightened until it hits the nut section 6, so that the nutsection 6 is firmly pressed onto the sealing ring 10.

When the nut section 6 is being screwed on, the handle 8 and brush 9always remain in the same position with respect to the bottom 10 of thecontainer 1, so that the brush 9 is not deformed. Conversely, the handle8 and brush 9 also remain in said position when the nut section 6 isunscrewed. As a result, the brush 9 can be moved over the bottom 17 ofthe container 1 when the cap 16 is completely unscrewed in order to alsoremove the last remaining drops of nail varnish.

With the variant illustrated in FIGS. 2-5, the nut section 6 to whichthe handle 8 and the brush 9 are attached is provided with an externalscrew thread 20, while the cap 16 has an internal screw thread 21 atthat location. The diameter of these screw threads 20, 21 is larger thanthat of the screw threads 3, 5 between the neck 2 and the cap 16. Theadvantage of this embodiment is that the functioning of both screwthreads is excellent. The diameter of the screw threads 20, 21 betweenthe nut section 6 and the cap 16 is even relatively greater than that ofthe variant from FIG. 1, as a result of which a very light and reliablescrewing movement is made possible.

A significant advantage of the nut section 6 with a relatively largediameter (required for the relatively large diameter of the screwthreads 20, 21) is also that it creates space for the apron-shaped seal22 which is injection-molded onto the transition 23 which conicallynarrows from the nut section 6 to the handle 8. When the closure 4 isplaced on the neck 2, this apron-shaped seal 22 is brought into contactwith the top side of said neck 2. This ensures that the substance whichis present inside the container 1 cannot penetrate into the region withthe various threaded connections.

Furthermore, on the apron-shaped seal 22, there are recesses 24, whichengage with corresponding projections 23 on the top side of the neck 2in such a manner that said section 6 is locked against rotation.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the closure 4 consists of the above-describednut section 6 and the associated parts, the cover 25 and the sleeve 32.The cover 25, which is also shown upside down in FIG. 5 for the sake ofclarity, has a stop 26 which is formed at the end of a threadedelevation 27. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the nut section has acorresponding stop 26, on a corresponding helical elevation 29. Thecover has opposite projections 30, while the sleeve has correspondingrecesses 31.

When assembling the closure 4, the nut section 6 is first screwed intothe screw thread 21 of the sleeve 32. Subsequently, the cover 25 isplaced, with the projections 30 thereof coming to lie in the recesses31. The purpose of the stops 26, 28 will be explained next.

If, for any reason whatsoever, the nut section 6 is rotated outwardsover some distance with respect to the sleeve 32, so that the brush 9projects relatively far outside, the closure 4 can nevertheless beplaced correctly on the container 1 in the following manner. As soon asthe grooves 24 engage with the corresponding projections 33 at the topside of the neck 2, the nut section 6 is locked against rotation. Thesleeve 32 can now be rotated further, with the sleeve 32 moving in thedirection of the container 1, as a result of the interaction between thescrew threads 20, 21 of the nut section 6 and the sleeve 32. Gradually,the screw thread 5 of the sleeve 32 comes into contact with the screwthread 3 of the neck 2, as a result of which the cap 16 becomes securedto the container 1. When the sleeve 32 and the cover 25 attached theretohave eventually been rotated so far that the stops 26, 28 are in contactwith one another, the closure 4 has been tightened completely. Thebottom of the sleeve 32 may in this case still be situated at a distancefrom the top wall of the container 1.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1. Container

2. Neck

3. External screw thread (neck)

4. Closure

5. Internal screw thread (cap)

6. Nut section

7. External screw thread (nut section)

8. Handle

9. Brush

10. Sealing ring

11. Sealing ring collar

12. Top surface (sealing ring)

13. Bottom surface (nut section)

14. Sealing ring lug

15. Recess (nut)

16. Cap

17. Bottom (container)

20. External screw thread (nut section)

21. Internal screw thread (cap)

22. Apron-shaped seal

23. Conical transition

24. Recess (apron-shaped seal)

25. Cover

26. Stop (cover)

27. Helical elevation (cover)

28. Stop (sleeve)

29. Helical elevation (sleeve)

30. Projection (cover)

31. Recess (sleeve)

32. Sleeve

33. Projection (neck)

34. Friction element (nut section)

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A packaging for a substance in a liquid,particulate or pasty state, for example a cosmetics product such as nailvarnish, comprising a container (1) which is accessible via a neck (2),a closure (4) which interacts with the neck (2) of the container (1) bymeans of a screw connection (3, 5), as well as a removing elementattached to the closure (4), such as a brush (9), pipette or scoop,which removing element extends into the container (1) when the closure(4) is screwed onto the neck (2) and interacts with the closure (4) bymeans of a screw connection (5, 7; 20, 21), wherein the screw connection(5, 7) between the removing element and the closure and the screwconnection (3, 5) between the closure (4) and the neck (2) have asubstantially similar diameter, or in that the screw connection (5, 7;20, 21) between the removing element and the closure has a diameterwhich is larger than the screw connection (3, 5) between the closure (4)and the neck (2), characterized in that retaining means (14, 15) areprovided in order to prevent rotation of the nut (6) and the neck (2)with respect to one another.
 13. The packaging as claimed in claim 12,in which the screw connection (3, 5) between the closure (4) and theneck (2) and the screw connection (5, 7) between the closure (4) and thebrush (9) have similar properties, such as similar diameters and similarlead angle or pitch.
 14. The packaging as claimed in claim 12, in whichthe closure (4) has an internal screw thread (5) and the removingelement (9) has a handle (8) provided with a nut section (6) whichinteracts with said internal screw thread (5) of the closure (4). 15.The packaging as claimed in claim 14, in which the closure (4) has aninternal screw thread (5) which interacts both with the neck (2) andwith the nut section (6).
 16. The packaging as claimed in claim 14, inwhich the nut section (6) and the neck (2) are sealed with respect toone another by sealing means (10).
 17. The packaging as claimed in claim14, in which the retaining means have mating shapes (14, 15) which canbe brought into engagement with one another by placing the closure (4)on the neck (2).
 18. The packaging as claimed in claim 16, in which theretaining means comprise at least one recess (15) or projection of thenut (6), as well as a projection (14) or recess on the container (1).19. The packaging as claimed in claim 18, in which the sealing meanscomprise a sealing element (10) attached to the neck, which sealingelement (10) comprises the projection (14) or the recess.
 20. Thepackaging as claimed in claim 19, in which the nut section (6) and thesealing element (10) comprise sealing surfaces (12, 13) which can bemade to interact with one another.
 21. The packaging as claimed in claim12, in which the retaining means comprise a friction element (34)provided on the nut section (6), which friction element can be made tointeract with the neck (2).
 22. The packaging as claimed in claim 15, inwhich the nut section (6) and the neck (2) are sealed with respect toone another by sealing means (10).
 23. The packaging as claimed in claim12, in which the retaining means have mating shapes (14, 15) which canbe brought into engagement with one another by placing the closure (4)on the neck (2).
 24. The packaging as claimed in claim 12, in which theretaining means comprise at least one recess (15) or projection of thenut (6), as well as a projection (14) or recess on the container (1).